As Coronado’s longstanding events continue to grow in popularity and attendance, city leaders are working to balance traditions, public safety, and city resources.
For example, Coronado’s Fourth of July parade and its annual Crown City Classic race both draw crowds: More than 100,000 people attended the parade last year, and about 2,800 people ran in the race that morning.
These events both strain parking and require resources from the city to close roads, coordinate public safety, clean up, and administrate.
To remedy this, the Coronado City Council on Oct. 21 decided it will no longer approve the Crown City Classic race on the same day as the city’s Fourth of July parade, starting in 2027.
“I think it’s a good policy that we have to try and avoid having two large events on the same day,” Councilmember Carrie Downey said, citing strains on city infrastructure and resources as well as public safety concerns. (Downey is a member of the Coronado Fourth of July board of directors.)
The decision arose as the council considered — and ultimately approved — its 2026 special events calendar. During that discussion, city staff asked the council whether it would be amenable to changing its policy on fee waivers for community events.
Large events require extra police, fire, and public works staff to manage crowds and road closures, to clean up after an event, and administrative staff time. Some events receive fee waivers from the city.
Currently, the waivers are granted on a case-by-case basis, with staff considering community value, whether it is a free or ticketed event, whether it is hosted by a nonprofit organization, and whether it is run by volunteers or paid staff.
The council discussed changing its fee waiver structure for special events, considering a new tiered system that would make these decisions more consistent and transparent. It could also consider ways to recapture some of those fee waivers using revenue collected at the conclusion of the events. While there was general support for updating the city’s policy, the council did not make a final decision or adopt new rules at this meeting.
Instead, the council asked city staff to continue developing options and return with more detailed recommendations before any official changes are made.
In the last year, Coronado granted about $368,929 on event support via fee waivers. Many of the events granted waivers also earned funding from the city’s community grants program. In all, Coronado allocated $651,215 in additional grant funding to these events, such as the Coronado Flower Show and the Fourth of July.
The Fourth of July was the greatest sticking point as the council considered changing its policies. While the council agreed that having both the parade and the Crown City Classic on the same day caused logistical challenges and possible safety concerns, they are both traditions in the city.
Coronado has a general policy against hosting two major events in the same day, but there are some repeated exceptions, such as on the Fourth of July, or when the summer Coronado Promenade Summer Concerts conflict with other events. The council approves the special events schedule annually and considers such exceptions individually.
The council first considered moving the 2026 Crown City Classic race to Sunday, July 5, in a motion that Councilmembers Carrie Downey and Mark Fleming voted in favor of. Mayor John Duncan and Councilmembers Kelly Purvis and Amy Steward dissented.
Race director Jamie Monroe said at the meeting that he was open to discussing alternate dates in the future, but that it did not seem fair to change the 2026 event on such short notice.
Monroe said he felt blindsided that he did not have time to bring community members to speak in favor of the race or to prepare his own remarks ahead of the meeting, and asked that the 2026 race date remain July 4.
Agreeing that it would be unfair to change the date after planning had already begun, Duncan moved that the council approve the Crown City Classic for July 4 of 2026, but to indicate that it would not approve it on the same day as the parade in future years. That motion passed, with Downey dissenting.
Downey noted that in 2026, the Fourth of July is on a Saturday, creating an opportune time to hold the Crown City Classic that Sunday.
“I’d be absolutely dumbfounded if (runners) didn’t agree to come Sunday instead of Saturday,” Downey said. “So I think it would be a good thing to start (the change) now.”
In 2027, the Fourth of July falls on a Sunday, and when that happens, Coronado holds its parade on Monday. Therefore, the Crown City Classic could still be on Independence Day in 2027, Downey said. The council did not make any decisions about when the Crown City Classic might be held in years when the Fourth falls midweek, and the approved motion does not obligate future councils to enforce the same policy.
Councilmember Mark Fleming said he was surprised at the amount of city funds that went toward special events.
“I would suggest that we look at the value to this city (of these events),” Fleming said. “As we look at these different events, would the citizens — the taxpayers in this city — as well as the businesses, which are also taxpayers within the city, really going to benefit?”
Downey, meanwhile, suggested that moving the race to the day before or after the Fourth would allow the Crown City Classic to accommodate more runners. The race, entering its 53rd year in 2026, benefits the Islander Sports Foundation.
Overall, the council agreed that the race and parade should not be held on the same day, though several members acknowledged the Crown City Classic’s longstanding role in Coronado’s Independence Day celebrations.
“I was part of the original groups that used to get together and run on the Fourth of July,” Councilmember Amy Steward said. “We just kind of all got together and ran, and then it became a little more formalized as the years went on to become the Crown City Classic.”
The council will revisit the matter of major special events and any future changes to its fee waiver policies at a future meeting.
